World News - THE WORLD FROM BERLIN: Will the Real Hamas Please Stand Up?

In the face of the surprise electoral victory of Hamas, Europe's diplomatic community strives to keep the peace process rolling. But under the surface of all the declarations of open-mindedness, which are also echoed by the press, there is much unclarity about how this unwanted situation came about and how it will develop. Amidst fears for the future of the Middle East peace process, the foreign ministers of the United States, European Union, Russia and the General Secretary of the United Nations are trying to remain as optimistic as possible about an election result in the Palestinian Authority that most are judging as dismal. The so-called Mideast Quartet will meet this Monday in London to discuss the election of Hamas in Ramallah and its consequences for the "Roadmap" to peace in the Mideast. ... http://service.spiegel.de

Two French missionaries and two Haitians were kidnapped near a volatile slum in Haiti's capital, a U.N. official said Thursday.The four were seized on Wednesday as they traveled on a road near Cite Soleil, a sprawling slum on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince used as a base by heavily armed gangs blamed for a wave of kidnappings and violence in the capital, said David Wimhurst, a U.N. spokesman.The captors have demanded a ransom, and Haiti's anti-kidnapping squad was working to secure the hostages' release, said Wimhurst, who did not identify the two French nationals other than to say one was a priest and the other a nun. He said he had no information about the identities of the kidnapped Haitians.A wave of kidnappings has plagued the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, where criminal gangs have flourished in the aftermath of the rebellion that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004....http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-01-27-haiti_x.htm?csp=34

The economy grew at only a 1.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of last year, the slowest pace in three years, amid belt-tightening by consumers facing spiraling energy costs. Even with the feeble showing from October through December, the economy registered respectable overall growth of 3.5 percent for all of 2005, a year when business expansion was undermined by devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes. The Commerce Department report, released Friday offered the latest figures on gross domestic product, the best measure of the country's economic standing. The 1.1 percent growth rate in the fourth quarter marked a considerable loss of momentum from the third quarter's brisk 4.1 percent pace. The fourth-quarter's performance was even weaker than many analysts were forecasting. Before the release of the report, they were predicting the GDP to clock in at a 2.8 percent pace. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/27/business/main1244471.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=U.S._1244471

U.S. Senate Republican leaders said they have enough support to end debate on Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. and confirm him next week as some Democrats staged a last-ditch filibuster to try to derail his confirmation. The agreement yesterday to schedule the final roll call for Jan. 31 came as Democrats led by Massachusetts Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry forced leaders to schedule a separate vote a day earlier to stop debate on Alito's nomination to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Republicans control the Senate, 55-45. Three Democrats have announced support for Alito. Five other Democrats have said they will vote to end debate, ensuring the 60 votes necessary to proceed to a final roll call on Alito's confirmation....http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=avX8dE4XhVkw&refer=home

Barbara and Terry Mann were supposed to complete their adoption of a 20-month-old boy on Thursday. Instead, they were planning funerals for him and their other four children -- all killed in a fiery car wreck.The accident Wednesday, which also killed two young relatives, cast a pall over this small town of about 2,000 people in northern Florida. After hearing of the accident, Barbara Mann's grief-stricken father suffered a heart attack and died."It's hard to fathom what it's like to lose five children, two nieces and a father in one shot. It seems like a burden too big to bear," said Scott Fisher, a family spokesman and pastor at the Lake Butler Church of Christ. Friends and family came together to mourn the deaths of the seven children as investigators tried to piece together how the three-vehicle accident happened on a clear day on a road free of obstructions...http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/27/bus.crash.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us

The US military in Afghanistan has begun a court martial of an American soldier charged with assaulting two Afghan detainees at a US base. The detainees were being held at a base in Uruzgan and were allegedly assaulted last July. They did not require medical attention, the military said. A second soldier facing the same charge is due to face court martial on Monday. Human rights groups have often accused US forces of abusing Afghans held at US detention centres in the country. A third soldier is also facing "non-judicial punishment for allegedly having knowledge of the abuse and not reporting it through the unit's chain of command", the release added. The charges against the soldiers came in October close on the heels of accusations that US forces burned the bodies of Taleban fighters, an act considered sacrilege in Islam. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4653080.stm